Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-#305 (3-32), "The Lost Girls"

Mike's Delayed Reaction Review-#305 (3-32), "The Lost Girls"

Spoilers Space for #305 (If you don't want to know, then don't scroll!)

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Mike's More Delayed Reaction Review-"The Lost Girls"

MDRR #305 (3-32) Wickety-Whack !

Secrecy? Yeah Right- Wasn't the whole point of Val coming to visit the contest winner to see things from their point of view? If everyone knows that she's there, the purpose of her visit is defeated. Miss Li and Mr. O'Niell seemed to be responsible for some of the leaks. Miss Li is more interested in recognition for the school and herself and made some changes that day that said, at the very least, that something was happening. Val isn't blameless, either, since her office confirmed to the local news that Val was there (she wasn't too upset that they didn't listen to her). She also seemed like the type who likes living in the spotlight. Her visit was one of the worst kept secrets in Lawndale history.

The Poseur, Outside of Its Natural Habitat- Val seems to be one of those people to avoid at all costs. Excuse me for sounding similar, but she doesn't quite get it, whatever it is. Despite talking about how cool Daria is, she is oblivious to almost everything that Daria does. She didn't realize that Daria was trying to poke holes through everything she stands for, Daria tells her that she "sucks the energy out of youth culture" and she compliments her on how smart a thing that was to say. She seems a bit too self absorbed to be running a major magazine.

Taking Advantage of a Bad Situation- I admire Jane's approach to dealing with Val, even if she wasn't going to benefit directly from it. Her mission was to make Val's trip to Lawndale part of a bigger project by having Daria do a return visit to see Val's point of view in New York. She succeeded in subliminally planting the idea and then proceeded to plug away until Val relented, without even knowing what was happening. Unfortunately, Daria missed this opportunity (and the possibility of a sequel) by sabotaging all of Jane's hard work.

Respect My Authority! - Sandi doesn't take too kindly to popular strangers infringing on her turf, which was how she interpreted Val's presence. She was quick to criticize Val, to make herself feel big. Sandi was easily threatened, since Val didn't care one way or the other about anyone at Lawndale. Almost by extension, Sandi was taking a shot at Quinn, since we all know that she resents Quinn's presence.

Buzzwords of the Week- Jiggy? Whack? Edgy? This episode is chock-full of funny buzzwords that have no real meaning. Even when Val describes 'edgy', it didn't make any sense (which was the joke, I know). These are all words that some tragically un-hip people use to make themselves feel hip, and therefore more important.

Poisoning the Pie- It took a lot of effort on Daria's part to get the attention of Val. In reality, Daria just kept pushing buttons until she got a reaction. Val is insecure about her age but she also doesn't seem to be able to handle any real problems. Daria's advice was the proverbial 'straw that broke the camel's back,' Val is too concerned with trying to be young that she is ignoring the '30-something without (looked more like 40-something to me)' and living in a fantasy world.

Part of the Problem- I just realized that I've used Val fifteen times so far. Geez, it's contagious. I guess I should take my Valium.

This episode raised a red flag in my mind almost immediately: it seemed to be turning into another fashion club-esque episode. Fortunately, that didn't happen and instead we got a look at the shallow nature of an individual whom can't let go of the past or can't cope with growing older. Val was completely over the top and I don't see how anyone like that could exist (there are people who have some of her traits, but that's different). However, I think I can also see another trend that was pushed into the background by Val. That would be Daria general bitterness toward anything that could be remotely perceived as popular. She seems to be in the business of sabotaging anything that falls into that category. I'm not defending Val or her cronies (and I think Daria was right about them, by the way), but Daria should at least lighten up a little and realize that everyone's not going to think her way all of the time. It's not wrong for her to be critical and cynical, but she shouldn't have to go overboard to dispense her criticism, which is the impression that I got here. Daria didn't have to throw away a trip to New York and could have went without changing the way she thinks of Val (she even could have gotten in some more of those subtle barbs she's fond of). If I were to offer Daria some advice, I would say "stop sucking all the fun out of life and live a little."

The Bottom Line- I'm still not sure if I liked this one or not, but without Val, this episode would be just another unedgy cog of this jiggy series (whatever that means).

Grade: B-

Final Val Count: 22

Next Week- Strap yourself in for repeats of season three and be on the lookout for the 'Delayed Reaction Halftime Report.' New episodes in at least six weeks! Woo-hoo!

Copyright � 1999 Mike Quinn [All Rights Reserved]. "Daria" and all related characters are � 1999 MTV Networks, Inc.

Missed a review? Check Outpost Daria http://systech.simplenet.com/daria/

Mike Quinn [email] "...the race is long, and in the end it's only with yourself..."

Mike Quinn said:
(SPOILERS)
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I would say that Val was their more-than-willing accomplice in this.

Yes, exactly.

Yep.

Exactly. She was interested in Daria simply as a symbolic "teen", she was blind to any way in which Daria was different than she expected and uninterested in Daria's opinions, though she feigned interest.

Heh, she probably thought that Daria meant something like "drew her energy from youth culture." She didn't realize that Daria meant she was a cultural vampire.

Self-absorption and talent are often commingled qualities, unfortunately.

Jane cares for Daria, and wanted to arrange something nice for her. This shows that Jane is a nice person, even though she is willing to use underhanded means to accomplish her ends.

Daria was only willing to go so far to play along with the whole deal. Val proved to be beyond Daria's ability to tolerate.

presence.

Yup. Sandi's criticism had absolutely no real objective basis, she was doing it purely to be nasty.

Lawndale.

Though ironically, Val's obsession with being "youthful" rendered her vulnerable to Sandi's criticism, where most other adults would have simply laughed at the silly little girl. Val, a good example of a person who gets her opinions "second hand", felt compelled to yield to Sandi's criticism to a degree that not even Quinn (who after all has her own opinions about fashion) would be.

Though note that the way Val *defined* "edgy" (knowing you're on the edge of the cliff but dancing anyway) it boiled down to "foolish" or "reckless", which is clearly how Val lives her life (as we saw from her phone converstions). Ideas have consequences, and Val's mistaken ideas bring her evil consequences indeed.

Note, incidentally, that Jake (a genuinely good idealist, albiet a muddle-brained one) was the one to actually question the meaning of "edgy" in that conversation. Jake is silly, and more than a bit neurotic, but we can see the same spirit in him that we see in his daughter Daria, even if it often emerges in dysfunctional ways.

Yep. Though I think that at first Daria was trying to *avoid* a confrontation. Daria's maturing, and she knew that such a conflict wouldn't really be in anyone's best interests; she also may have felt rather sorry for Val. But in the end Val provoked the conflict by insisting on reading Daria's inner thoughts as revealed on her notepad.

I think Val's insecurities are precisely *why* she can't handle any real problems. Would a secure woman have gotten drunk and had sex with the youthful movie star in the first place?

Yes, and unfortunately I doubt that Daria's advice did any good. Val would have done well to actually consider the points Daria raised, but to do so would involve a dangerously painful examination of her own character.

We also perhaps see the possible future of a person like Sandi or Stacy. (Not so much Quinn ... I think Quinn has a bit more common sense).

Well, she's a partial caricature, like most of the characters on the show. I've never met anyone exactly like Daria either, though I know and have known some truly excellent people who are similar in some ways.

To an extent this is true. To an extent she is simply a very honest person who often pays the price for her honesty. As she grows older she will have to choose between deciding to trust something or somebody, or becoming truly sour and embittered.

(This is one reason, btw, that I don't want to see Daria really suffer too much. She's already cynical on the surface, and if life treats her too badly the cynicism could freeze her all the way down to her heart).

I think Jane would agree with you. In fact, I think that without Jane's influence on her, Daria might develop into a truly nasty and bitter person.

Possibly. Though in a way, losing the trip was the inevitable price Daria paid for her honesty.

Sincerely Yours, Jordan

The latest production from Mike Quinn is as follows:

These aren't words used in any teenagers life, not even the 'populars' one. Jiggy was simplely made popular by Will Smith, look at the source. Whack was a slang word a while back, but when the rich suburban 12 year olds got a hold of it, it ceased to be 'cool'.

As for edgy, I was watching the show and my mother walked in when Val was defineing the word and she asked, "I didn't get that, what did she[Val] say", so I had to explain, and now I'll attempt to explain the use of edgy, 'Getting to the edge of what is accepted by the majority, then dancing, as to be on the verge of falling into the abyss of what is not accepted. Therefore, being the epitome of 'coolness' because one is slightly on the 'wild side' but yet retaining their 'coolness'.

I probably helped no one with that definention, but oh well. Thought since I had a quasi-understanding of what Val was trying to put across, I might help out those still in the dark.

c-ya

In article ,

Actually, that doesn't sounc too bad. The real question is whether this was what Val was thinking when she said it. It's hard to tell.

Mike Quinn [email] "...the race is long, and in the end it's only with yourself..."

(snip)

You said Val, as in "Val."

In article , [email] wrote:

Yes.

Mike Quinn [email] "...the race is long, and in the end it's only with yourself..."